Past Events

More camaraderie has been building as two Montana wounded vets decided to climb Red Mountain. The trip consisted of Chris Grudzinski and his wife Kristin and John Arnold and his girlfriend Hallie. They stayed in the beautiful Homestake Lodge near Whitehall and had the opportunity to walk around and explore the 200 plus acres of trails and amazing wildlife. The ascent up Red Mountain began roughly at 7000 feet (where they parked), and the two couples hiked up to the summit at 10,345 feet. It was a very challenging and physically demanding hike, but in every sense of the word worth it. This was such a empowering, positive boost to all of them. It took them just over three hours to reach the summit, but it was time worth spent and they enjoyed the summit like nothing ever seen before. The 360 view was amazing and the pain it took to get up there was shared by all of the as they helped and pushed each other the entire way.

After the hike they returned to the Homestake Lodge and enjoyed awesome food, company and the view of watching 2 bull moose just off the deck playing in the trees and watering hole. The company, accommodations, food, scenery, wildlife, exercise and conversation were great, and there are plans in the works to do this again with a much larger group of anxious warriors in the future.

The second weekend in June we had another successful fundraising event at the Flathead Valley Clay Target Club in Kalispell. Friday night we had a cookout at the club and our vets got to practice their trap shooting. Saturday one of our vets, Billy Beck of Kalispell, won the new shooter event and a very nice belt buckle. In the afternoon two local fishing charters, A Able and Mofisch, took our vets out on Flathead Lake. Sunday morning we had another winner in the new shooter event, as Charles Williams of Kalispell won a belt buckle. This is the sixth year the Clay Target Club has put on this fundraising event for Montana Wounded Warriors and we would just like to let Norm Nicholson and the rest of the board know how much we appreciate their continued support.

Montana Wounded Warriors was contacted in December by John Wells, a rancher of White Sulphur Springs. He was interested in reducing his herd of buffalo, and wondered if we’d be interested in purchasing theses animals at a discount to help fill the freezers of several of our wounded veterans. We saw this as a great opportunity to provide over a thousand pounds of nutritious meat for our veterans families, and have a little fun in the process. When all was said and done, five buffalo were on the ground and a great time was had by all. Those whose freezers were filled were Chuck Hayter, Spencer Keck, Adam Greenwell, Travis Norby, Sam Bruner, Clint Mainwaring, Jacob Parker and Chris Grudzinski.

Thanks to John Wells and his staff for this great opportunity to bless our wounded vets!!

THANKS AGAIN to all of you who have participated in the 2008 Harley Davidson XL 1200 Nightster raffle. Thank you to Jim Peterson of Valley Ford for allowing the motorcycle to be displayed in their show room where they sold tickets and provided a cook out on the day of the drawing. Thank you to Evergreen Army Navy with their help in selling tickets. We would also like to thank the Flathead Beacon for helping us get the word out about Denton Moberly’s donation and the raffle. And CONGRATULATIONS to Rob Schrider of Ronan, the lucky winner!!!

Left to Right: Jesse Mann, president of MTWW, with young man who picked the winning ticket; Jim Peterson looking on as Dave Sheldon, board member of MTWW calls Rob Schrider to give him the good news; Rob picking up the bike from Jesse Mann.

Flathead Valley Clay Target Club held their fifth annual fundraiser for Montana Wounded Warriors on June 12-14th. The weekend started on Friday night with a cookout and practice shooting for our wounded veterans. On Saturday, over 50 participants as well as local and out of town wounded veterans competed in single and double events.

Then, on Saturday afternoon, we took our veterans out on Flathead Lake for some fishing. A Able Fishing from Bigfork took one boat out, and Mo Fisch Company from Lakeside took two boats out. What a beautiful day! The fishing was incredible, with each boat landing 15 lakers.

We ended the day at Spencer and Co. with a steak dinner for our veterans. Sunday ended the weekend with more shooting.

Montana Wounded Warriors would like to thank Flathead Valley Clay Target Club for their continued support and welcoming atmosphere for our wounded veterans. They raised $3500.00 for our veterans this year. We’d also like to thank A Able and Mo Fisch Fishing Companies for the successful fishing trip on the lake. And again, a special thanks to the staff at Spencer and Co. for their great food and service. Our veterans are looking forward to this again next year.

Steve Heger, of Kalispell, was the lucky winner of the Tika-T3, Sako 30.06 rifle raffled off by Montana Wounded Warriors. The rifle was donated by a couple from Columbia Falls who would like to remain anonymous, but we would like to thank them and let them know how much we appreciate their generosity. The drawing was held at the Flathead Valley Clay Target Club on Thursday, March 12th, during the winter league shoot. Congratulations to Steve and thank you to all of our supporters who purchased a ticket.

Montana Wounded Warriors (MWW) recently partnered with the Department of Montana Military Order of the Purple Heart (MMOPH) to sponsor the University of Montana’s Vets Office “Vetsgiving.” This annual event hosted by the Student Veterans Association over the Thanksgiving break is designed to promote comradery among student Veterans, as well as provide a place for those Veterans and their families whom were not able to return home to meet, eat and enjoy the holidays.

To that end, the event was held at the Missoula Trap and Skeet Club. The event was a resounding success on a beautiful Montana day with over sixty participants that not only were provided a meal, but were able to engage in recreational trap shooting in a relaxed environment. Additionally, there were toys and entertainment provided for the “little ones.”

We wish these Veterans and their families our best as they continue to pursue their studies toward graduation at the University of Montana.

Flathead Valley Community College, through their service learning and intramural program, held a 3K Fun Run/Walk in honor of 911 National Day of Service and Remembrance. The college chose to donate the money raised from this event to Montana Wounded Warriors. We would like to thank them for the $700.00 they raised to help support our mission of taking our wounded Montana veterans on hunting and fishing trips around our state.

Barbara Grinde, of Polson, wanted to have a fundraiser at the Finley Point Grill to benefit Montana Wounded Warriors. She contacted former members of the Steve Miller Band and asked if they would be willing to play a benefit show. They agreed, and with the help of Sean Perry, the manager of the Finley Point Grill, they put on an evening of good music, drink and food with silent auction items. Barbara’s Dad is a veteran and Barbara felt that a fundraiser just before Veteran’s Day was appropriate. Through her efforts, she was able to raise $850.00 for our organization.

This summer Darla Hall of Kalispell coordinated the 9th annual John and Ogle Offspring Golf Classic at the Village Greens Golf course. This year’s event was held in memory of family member Gary L Hanson affectionately known in the family as Mr. BIG. Gary had served many years in the Navy. He was killed in a tragic accident while jogging. In his memory the family donated all proceeds of the golf tournament and silent auction which totaled more than $3,000 to Montana Wounded Warriors. Montana Wounded Warriors would like to thank Darla and all of Gary’s friends and family who participated in the event and blessed our organization with their generosity.